Hillel Campus Climate Initiative

This critical program fuels university and college administrators to build awareness, allyship, and action around antisemitism, as part of a broader effort to address hate and bias on campus.

The Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) collaborates with higher education administrators to ensure a positive campus climate in which Jewish students feel comfortable expressing their identity and values, free of antisemitism, harassment, or marginalization. We recognize that key administrative leaders play an essential role in effecting broad-based educational and policy change on campus, and that partnerships between campuses and Hillels can catalyze positive changes that benefit Jewish students and all students. The CCI model involves partnership between the college or university administration, local Hillel, and the CCI team. To date, 40 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada have participated in the Campus Climate Initiative, including Cohort 3, which was announced in September 2022.

The Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) provides college and university administrators with opportunities to seriously explore these topics — and create meaningful action plans — alongside a community of peers from institutions around North America. This collaborative, educational, and practical experience offers administrators on participating campuses, in partnership with their local Hillel professionals, to engage together with us in:

• Gathering, assessing, and utilizing data to better understand the current climate for Jewish students in their campus community and to inform strategic next steps
• Training and empowering university administration and staff to better understand the needs of Jewish students, the diversity of the Jewish community, and the challenges of campus antisemitism
• Creating and adopting best practice policies, procedures, and programs to address antisemitism and foster a positive campus climate for Jewish students and all students

As part of the cohort experience, participating campuses will:

• Build a coalition to combat antisemitism      
• Participate in a professional community of practice that centers peer-to-peer learning with colleagues who share a commitment to inclusive campus communities for all students
• Engage in campus-specific work to implement data-informed action steps to foster a positive, inclusive, and welcoming campus climate for Jewish students and all students.
• Receive ongoing support from Hillel International professionals to sustain an inclusive campus culture for all students

Higher education institutions are encouraged to apply for the fourth cohort jointly with their campus Hillel. Applications are now open! For more information, contact [email protected].

Previous Cohorts

Forty colleges and universities have participated in the Campus Climate Initiative.